Sydney, Jan 8 (IANS) Three people, including two foreign tourists, have been killed and three more hospitalized with serious injuries after a seaplane crashed off the coast of Western Australia (WA), authorities confirmed on Wednesday.
The Premier of WA, Roger Cook, said at a press conference with WA Police Commissioner Colonel Blanch that the bodies of the deceased were recovered from the wreckage by water police on Tuesday night.
They have been identified as a 34-year-old male pilot from Perth, a 65-year-old female Swiss tourist and a 60-year-old male tourist from Denmark.
There were seven people on board the privately-owned seaplane when it crashed into the ocean shortly after take off at about 4 pm local time Tuesday near Rottnest Island, a popular tourist destination 20 km off the coast of Perth.
Four passengers were pulled from the water and airlifted to hospital on Tuesday evening, with three suffering serious injuries, Xinhua news agency reported.
The survivors are a 63-year-old Swiss national, a 58-year Danish national and two West Australians aged 65 and 63.
Cook said that initial investigations have not been able to confirm witness reports that the plane hit a rock shortly before crashing.
Aerial footage of the crash site showed the plane nose down in the water with debris floating nearby.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in a statement that his thoughts were with all those affected.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau on Wednesday confirmed it would investigate the crash.
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) reported that the seaplane involved in the incident was brand new.
Witness Greg Quin told ABC radio that the plane crashed moments after taking off from Thomson Bay on the island’s east coast.
Rottnest Island is a popular tourism destination known for its population of quokkas — a small species of marsupial — and is serviced by several companies offering air transfers from Perth.
–IANS
int/as
Disclaimer
The information contained in this website is for general information purposes only. The information is provided by TodayIndia.news and while we endeavour to keep the information up to date and correct, we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the website for any purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk.
In no event will we be liable for any loss or damage including without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage, or any loss or damage whatsoever arising from loss of data or profits arising out of, or in connection with, the use of this website.
Through this website you are able to link to other websites which are not under the control of TodayIndia.news We have no control over the nature, content and availability of those sites. The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.
Every effort is made to keep the website up and running smoothly. However, TodayIndia.news takes no responsibility for, and will not be liable for, the website being temporarily unavailable due to technical issues beyond our control.
For any legal details or query please visit original source link given with news or click on Go to Source.
Our translation service aims to offer the most accurate translation possible and we rarely experience any issues with news post. However, as the translation is carried out by third part tool there is a possibility for error to cause the occasional inaccuracy. We therefore require you to accept this disclaimer before confirming any translation news with us.
If you are not willing to accept this disclaimer then we recommend reading news post in its original language.
